hi, my name is chen and i have read a lot about chinese medicine. i would like to ask you this question concerning my headaches. i have frequent headaches usually above my right eye (the eyebrow region) and sometimes above my left eye as well. it is very incapacitating. my g.p. says this is a supra-orbital pain and that it relates to tension. she gives me pain killers. can you tell me how chinese medicine relates to this problem and what is the preferred treatment for this?

Hello Chen. Supra-orbital pain may be related to the Chinese energetic pattern of Wind-Cold mostly. It is most often the result of a climatic influence, cold or wind or both, that penetrates the regions of the outer layers (skin and muscles) of the neck and/or eye region. This energetic pathogen impedes the flow of Qi in these areas and causes the superficial pain that you have. These line of pathogens may also penetrate the nasal cavities (sinuses) which are also in the front line of our defence against climatic changes, and may cause such pain in the supra-orbital region. The treatment by acupuncture of such pain is very easy and usually resolves the problem completely. Also herbal medicine may eliminate the problem altogether. You, actually, may even try to treat yourself by the chopstick acupuncture technique, if you have read my book. You may choose the most tender points in the region of the pain (called AhShi points in Chinese) and apply strong pressure on them, until the pain is relieved. There are also some points on the neck that when you press them hard enough, you can feel a radiating pain traveling to the site of the pain on your eyebrow. Palpate the points attentively before you apply a strong pressure in order to see which one of these points yields the best radiating sensation to the site of the pain. Here's a sketch depicting the location of these AhShi points.

boaz

Posted on Saturday, February 21, 2004 - 00:47:

hi there Shmuel,, Is what you've written above applies to acute conditions?, if not would there be different pattern to similar such headache, but of the chronic type?what would be treatment to infra orbital chronic headache? Sorry , for having so much question, but what would be an example of such formula ?

If this problem persists without a proper treatment it can definitely become chronic. This does not mean, however, that a chronic condition may not have acute outbursts of pain. In such a case, much like migraine headaches, there is an underlying unresolved condition that flares-up now and then because of various "triggers". The treatment strategy would then be to treat the acute phase by strong stimulation and continuous treatments and then, with milder stimulation and spaced sessions until there are no more attacks. As for the point selection question, yes, there may also be difference in the prescription. The acute phase must deal with the pain itself in order to disperse locally. Next, you need to direct the treatment at the underlying pattern, based on your diagnosis. Just to illustrate, B-12 and Du-16 are excellent points to disperse an external wind-cold pathogen and may be a first choice combination for the chronic phase. Yet, using them in the acute phase, will not help much. I, unfortunately, see this pattern of confusion in the work of too many acupuncturists, some of them very experienced and famous...

This is the principle of a focused treatment, Boaz. The Ben is the Wind-Cold penetration. The Biao is the stagnant Qi and pain. In acute attacks you must treat the Biao first. In order to treat the Biao you need to choose points and techniques that will eliminate the pain as quickly as possible. These points must have a direct influence on the pain site, as much as the technique must be a strong and decisive dispersion. Such points may be Li-4 and Bl-2, St-8 and St-10 (or Li-18 or Si-16 - whichever yields a better pressure connection to the site of the pain). After you have eliminated the acute pain, use points such as B-12 or Du-16 to release the pathogen so that the attacks will not recur. This is the Ben part of the treatment. If you introduce these points at the acute stage you weaken the treatment impact and the treatment is not focused. This is a very important observation, and as said above, many practitioners fail to distinguish between the stages of the treatment, and mix between the Ben and the Biao.

Thank you, how do you find such pts as li-18 , si -16, influencing the orbital/sinus area. Is this from personal experience? I have been trying to find adjacent pts that influence this area. Also what are the herbs in the formula, Pe Min Kan Wan?I can't find it in my books....

These points are also pressure points for Tuina therapy of the supra-orbital area. If you press them hard enough, you may feel the pressure impact traveling to the supra-orbital area. If you use them with my chopstick therapy for self-treatment as I have suggested to Chen, this may alleviate the pain in that region quite dramatically. Pe Min Kan Wan is a patent-formula pill very good for sinusitis. It is not a classical combination.

Yes, there is. The most effective point in this area for the supra-orbital pain is Si-16. If you recall, the supra orbital area is under the influence of the Tai Yang segment. The point Si-16 (Tianchuang or "window of the sky") belongs to the Tai Yang and affects the region of the head (the "sky" in Chinese metaphorical terminology) and the passage of energy from the trunk to the head and v.v.

A. F. acupuncture & Shiatsu

Posted on Saturday, July 08, 2006 - 10:37:

Hi Shmuel, I read this with interest and even applied this technique to my sister in several occasions. She frequently suffers from this frontal headache and every time I applied this point pressure to her the headache vanished as magic. It is really outstanding. Can you please elaborate a little on the technique of applying self pressure to this point without the use of the chopstick? Very grateful to you Arnold

I am glad to hear that it helps Arnold. It is actually very easy to apply this technique on oneself, even without the use of chopsticks. I'll try to post here an image showing how it is done. Basically, you lay 4 fingers on top of your skull and fumble with both thumbs at the area of Si-16. Do this until you find the most sensitive point that, while applying a strong pressure on, will cause a radiating sensation travelling to the forehead, especially to the area where the pain is located. You may need to apply strong pressure for several seconds until the headache subsides. You may need to repeat this pressure several times until the pain vanishes completely, or until it substantially improves.

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